At the buzzer

Jamaal Franklin does it every day at practice, when San Diego State devotes eight minutes to individual shooting. As the clock runs down to zero, Franklin holds the ball and waits, waits, waits to take the final shot against an imaginary defender, as close to 0:00 as possible.

Franklin did it again Thursday, except this time it was in an arena with fans and referees and a real clock counting down, and it spared the 18th-ranked Aztecs the potential ignominy of losing to last-place Boise State in the opening round of the Mountain West conference tournament. His three-pointer at the buzzer gave top-seeded SDSU a 65-62 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center against a pesky Broncos team that refused to be saddled, not when it was down 11 with 5½ minutes left, not when it was still down four inside of a minute.

The Aztecs (25-6) now get fourth-seeded Colorado State in Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal, and Rams coach Tim Miles was asked how he intends to stop Franklin.

“Where’s Jeff Gillooly?” Miles said of Tonya Harding’s infamous thug before adding: “That was a joke. If something happens tonight, it wasn’t me.”

Fisher’s staff had suggested two options for the final play during a timeout with 20 seconds left and the score tied at 62. Fisher nodded at his assistants and walked into the huddle with his players. Told them to run “45.”

Franklin sets a ball screen for point guard Xavier Thames, who passes back to him and gets out of the way. The idea is for Franklin to get the ball near the free-throw line and burrow into the lane, just as he did for the game-winner against UNLV in the conference opener.

Except Boise State had watched film. Knew exactly what was coming.

Guard Derrick Marks: “Well, um, everyone in the gym knew who the last shot was going to.”

Coach Leon Rice: “That’s why we were committed to take two guys to guard him.”

Pushed 10 feet farther away from the basket than he had planned, double teamed, the drive cut off, time running out, the Mountain West's Player of the Year figured, why not, and hoisted a twisting, falling, off-balance three with Marks and Thomas Bropleh hanging on him like socks in the dryer.

“When he let it go,” Rice said, “I felt good about it as far as you couldn’t guard it any better.”

“When it left my hand,” said Franklin, who had 19 points and five rebounds, “I felt it was going in.”

Of course.

Why not?

It’s been like this all season, the Aztecs finding new and unique ways to win, falling behind, coming back, taking leads, losing leads, rarely dominant, never dull. They trailed by nine in the first half, led almost the entire second half, got up 57-46 inside six minutes to go after Broncos 251-pound center Kenny Buckner got his fourth foul, led 60-52 with 2:45 to go … and then got outscored 10-2 down the stretch.

But these 1-8 games can be tricky. Tip-off is noon in a half-empty arena in a city that is still wiping the sleep from its eyes. You’re already assured of a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Your opponent finished last in the conference.

But your opponent is also playing for its life, and you’re not.

That might explain how Boise State (13-17) had a 31-22 rebounding advantage and went 8 of 18 on threes a week after missing its first 12 in a 13-point home loss to SDSU. Or how the Aztecs got a grand total of two points, three rebounds, one assist and three turnovers from their bench, forcing four starters to play 37-plus minutes with the next game 28 hours away.

Or how they managed just one basket in the final three minutes before Franklin’s heroics.

Freshman Anthony Drmic (19 points) had made two free throws with 37.8 seconds left to pull within 62-60, and the Broncos applied full-court pressure. Chase Tapley, a three-year starter, got the ball in the corner, got in trouble, and instead of calling timeout chucked a crosscourt pass toward Thames that nicked the backboard. The Broncos converted turnover into layup, and it was 62-all.

“I didn’t think we had a timeout,” said Tapley, who was otherwise superb, rediscovering his stroke for 20 points (8 of 14 shooting) and passing 1,000 career points. “That’s a play that shouldn’t have happened. I’m too experienced to make that kind of play.”

Normally in that situation – tie game, shot clock turned off – Fisher doesn’t call timeout and let the opponent set its defense. He did this time because he didn’t want Boise State to get the ball back in regulation, didn’t want to shoot before two or three seconds left, didn’t want to tempt fate.

The Aztecs did the first time these teams met, Feb. 1 at Viejas Arena, Boise State’s Bropleh getting a wide open – and we mean wiiiide open – three-ball at the buzzer to win it. The ball went down, and popped out. SDSU 58, Boise State 56.

The Aztecs also are 14-1 in their last 15 overtime games.

“I said this all along about San Diego State,” BSU’s Rice said. “The quality that I admire the most about those guys is they’re winners. They know how to win those games. They know what it takes to win ’em. They do whatever it takes.

“You saw that at the end.”

Notes

The Aztecs have won 25 games for the fourth consecutive season. Only six other schools have similar active streaks: BYU, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Saint Mary’s and Syracuse … They’ve also won seven straight games at the MW Tournament and are 8-1 in their last nine at the Thomas & Mack Center. The lone loss was 65-63 to UNLV on Feb. 11 … It is the seventh time they’ve won this season after trailing by nine or more points …

Tapley is shooting 17 of 30 and averaging 21.5 points in his last two games at Thomas & Mack … Boise State used its 15th different starting lineup of the season … Buckner had eight points at halftime, but foul trouble limited him to just two in the second half … Guard Tre Nichols, who had a season-high 17 points in the Feb. 1 game at Viejas Arena, did not play ... Boise State didn't shoot a free throw for the game's first 25 minutes but finished 10 of 12.